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Neil: I just want to talk. It’s a buyer’s market now. You could get a nicer house if you sell the one you’re in.
Me: I don’t want a nicer house. I like this one.
Me: Focus on getting your house ready for the baby and stop texting me.
Neil: Don’t throw my child in my face like that.
Me: Lose my number and I won’t have to.
Then I clickthrough my settings and block Neil’s number.
6
Elena
After school the next day,I pick up some dry-cleaning and head home.
When I turn down my block, I spot Grant’s daughter running along the sidewalk.
My top lip curls.On the run after stealing another candy bowl?
Then I get closer and see the expression on her face.
Eyes wide, head frantic as she whips it back and forth like she’s searching for something. Tears stream down her rosy cheeks. She cups her hands around her mouth and shouts, loud enough for me to hear her strangled cry from inside my car.
Worry clenches around my stomach.
Where’s her father?
I jerk the steering wheel to the left and hop out as soon as I throw my car into park. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
The girl wipes her dripping nose on the back of her sleeve. “My dog…he ran out of the house…he saw a squirrel.”
They have the cutest pit bull. I’ve seen him the many times my nose was plastered against my window while I watched Grant jog around the neighborhood with him last spring.
I’m not proud of that fact.
I wave her toward my car. “Get in. We’ll cover more ground if we drive.”
She freezes. “Seriously? You’re going to help me?”
I could drive home and tell the kid she’s on her own. But I’ve seen the way people whip around the corners in this neighborhood, and I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to the dog.
“I’m a dog person.” I jerk my head. “Let’s go.”
She jumps into my passenger seat, and I roll down both windows.
“What’s your dog’s name?”
“Romeo.” A tear slips down her cheek. “He’s such a sweetheart.”
“Pit bulls usually are. And what’s your name?”
“Noah.” She leans out the window making kissy noises with her lips. “Romeo! Here, boy!”
We take turns calling his name as I circle the block.
“Does he have a favorite spot on the walks you go on?”
